Five police officers will learn today if they will be charged over a racist attack on a terrorist suspect.
Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer is expected to announce whether anyone will face trial over the arrest of British Muslim Babar Ahmad. Up to five Metropolitan Police officers could be prosecuted over an attack on the 36-year-old as he was held in Tooting, south London, in December 2003. The officers, all members of the force’s controversial territorial support group, were accused of a “serious, gratuitous and prolonged” attack.
The Met paid £60,000 damages in March last year as lawyers for Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson admitted Ahmad was the victim of violence. Court documents revealed officers beat and grabbed him around the neck, pulled his testicles and mocked his Islamic faith. At one point they forced him into a praying position as an officer shouted: “Where is your God now? Pray to him.”
Ahmad was also beaten as he lay on the floor of the police van as it took him to Charing Cross police station. Among the suspects is Pc Mark Jones, who was cleared last year of racially abusing two teenagers in a separate incident. Mr Starmer’s decision will come after an independent review by retired senior judge Sir Geoffrey Grigson into the handling of the case.
An original Met inquiry concluded no officer should be disciplined and prosecutors did not bring criminal charges. Inquiries into the attack were marked by the loss of key documents, including previous complaints against the officers, and the refusal of some to attend court. Ahmad remains in Long Lartin prison after the European Court of Human Rights halted his extradition to the United States to face terror charges.
The court will announce next year whether transferring him breaches his rights by exposing him to life imprisonment without parole and solitary confinement.
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